


Sand in My Shoes

by Untouchable_Hexing_Witch



Series: Life After X [2]
Category: X-Men Evolution
Genre: F/M, side jubilay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25519447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Untouchable_Hexing_Witch/pseuds/Untouchable_Hexing_Witch
Summary: Amara gets back from a two week vacation only to realize that she left something behind.
Relationships: Amara Aquilla/Roberto da Costa, Amarto, Sunspot/Magma
Series: Life After X [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680940





	Sand in My Shoes

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter belongs to Magma and Sunspot and I’m dedicating this chapter to Little Gem Magnolia because I know they’re your absolute fave! Hope it does the love you have for them justice ;) 
> 
> If this couple doesn’t catch your interest then please use that back button. If you stick around then I thank you from the bottom of my heart and hope you enjoy the chapter. Sorry for any grammar mistakes.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Sand in My Shoes O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

I've still got sand in my shoes  
And I can't shake the thought of you  
I should get on, forget you  
But why would I want to?  
I know we said goodbye  
Anything else would've been confused  
But I wanna see you again

Amara picked up her heavy bags and wiggled towards the sidewalk. Her cab had barely let her step on the curb before zooming away leaving in her a cloud of car exhaust. She coughed through gritted teeth and wiggled faster trying to get into the clear. When she finally was, she dropped her bags and brought her hands up towards her face, removing her passport from between her mouth so she could cough properly without any obstructions.

When she was done her brown orbs traveled up the length of the building, then to her bags and back up the building. Her lips twitched downward, Jubilee had to pick an apartment up high didn’t she? She closed her eyes and her hands went to her forehead rubbing it slightly as her best friend's voice echoed in her head, ‘Imagine the view at night! The city lights sparkling bright…’ she didn’t know if she had been trying to rhyme at that time but it definitely helped her remember her friends' excited words, and now of course she was regretting listening to them. The young Asians voice quickly faded out and was replaced by sounds of cars speeding by, horns honking and explosive backfire. 

She looked at her surroundings before her eyes eventually landed on her luggage. She didn’t pack lightly when she traveled out of town and to make matters worse the bags were heavier than when she had left due to the shopping sprees she had had and the souvenirs she had brought back. The cherry on top to all these misfortunes was that of course her roommate wasn’t home either. Last they spoke, Jubilee had let her know she wouldn't be able to meet her at the airport due having a test in one of her classes, she just couldn’t miss it. 

So there she was, outside of their building hating the fact that they were on the third floor, hating her best friend slash roommate, and hating that Jubilee’s mall obsession had somewhat rubbed off on her and her luggage weighed more than forty pounds each. She sighed to herself before putting her important documents back in her mouth and moving her body downwards deadlifting a bag with each hand and staggering towards the stairs.

Many breaks later she found herself on the third floor leaning against her luggage taking a breather. Small droplets of sweat were running down the side of her face and she felt herself get annoyed, nine months out of the mansion and this was kicking her ass? She was definitely in trouble. She shook her head getting the useless thoughts out of her head and looked around. The door to their apartment was just a few feet away now, this would be her last trip, the faster she got to it the faster it’d be done. She stood up straight ready to start and all was going well until she took a few steps. She paused as the motion light turned on, her eyes rolled at the fact that Jubilee had left it on during the day. 

She turned to the offensive light fixture and suddenly felt her cheeks warm up. They were above the window sill to their apartment and as she looked through the clear glass a memory that she had long wanted to forget came to mind. Her stagger became quicker as she tried getting away from the area and soon she was inside the apartment, bags on either side of her, passport dropped to the floor and her back against the door. 

Lucky for her she had had a knight in shining armor that night, so she hadn’t had to interrupt Jubilee’s...she searched her head for the right word, ‘night activities’ that time, something she was sure all parties involved were happy about. 

She shook her head at the thought and let her gaze go to her right side, landing on the wall of picture frames. She pushed away from the door and walked towards it, her eyes focused on the color photo at the center. When she reached it a hand moved towards it, her fingertips were centimeters away from touching it but realizing what she was doing her hand quickly moved away from the frame back to her side.

She shook her unexpected thoughts away and walked backward towards her bags, grabbing at the handles and dragging them away from the front door to her room. 

The first thing she did when she made it into her room was flop onto her bed and stretched, letting small pops and cracks escape her body. A thirteen hour flight was not fun nor comfortable so she was happy to finally be able to relax. She let her body sink into her mattress molding herself into her comforter, her wide brown eyes staying glued onto the ceiling, thoughts echoing loudly now that she was in silence.

She was home, surrounded by familiar places, surrounded by all her things...yet she felt as if something was missing. She thought back to what she had packed. She was pretty sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, she had doubled, no triple checked her bag when she had been packing so the possibility that she had left something behind was low but she couldn’t quite shake that uneasy feeling you get like when you leave the stove on.

With a deep sigh she turned on her side, propping an arm up to hold her head up so that she could view the shelves in her room. It was mostly junk. Books she probably wasn’t going to read again, nail polishes, small trinkets she had gotten on her many trips to the mall with Jubilee, a pair of dark glasses and her X-men communicator. They had all accumulated dust while she had been away and she should have had the urge to get up and dust them off but she couldn’t seem to pull her eyes away from the circled red x.

As she looked at it memories came flooding in and after a few seconds of a certain face repeatedly coming to mind she felt her eyes widening. Her body shot up to sit reacting almost as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her. An idea of what she could possibly be missing came to mind and soon she found herself looking back and forth around her room as if expecting what she had left in Rio De Janeiro to suddenly appear.

“Damn it…” she mumbled to herself and threw her back back on to the bed. How could this be possible? She asked herself. She had only been gone two weeks, could a person's feelings really change in that short amount of time? ‘No…’ she thought to herself. ‘That’s preposterous.’ 

“Well, was it really just in the last two weeks?”

She propped herself up on her elbows to skim the room at hearing the words. She was still alone.

“Great...I must be tired if I’m starting to hear things…” she groaned.

“Tired? Sure, let’s blame it on that.”

Her eyes widened at the whisper by her ear and her head quickly turned to the side to meet dark brown orbs. Her lips parted in awe and she shook her head, “You can’t be here…” she whispered making thin lips curl upwards.

“Of course I can’t,” the answer came from the other side of the room making her head turn. He was now leaning on her wardrobe looking devil may care with the same smile. She did a double take and turned back to her other side to see that he had indeed vanished from where she had first seen him. “But I can be here…” he added, making her turn back towards him to see that one of his fingers was tapping at his temple repeatedly.

“...I’m never eating airport peanuts again.” Goosebumps popped up on her arms as the rambunctious laugher filled her room. 

“I don’t think it was peanuts.”

“Well that’s the only weird thing I’ve done today. How else am I supposed to explain hallucinating about you?”

He smirked at the question but didn’t answer. Instead he walked across the room to where she had been staring off at earlier. His dark orbs finding the red X circled in a black bubble. “I’m you. Well I guess not you you but I am your thoughts. You’re thinking...and you’re thinking pretty hard.”

“About what?” she asked, her own eyes going to the red X.

“With me looking like this I would say it’s pretty obvious,” he turned around so that he was fully facing her. His lips were still curled upwards, eyes twinkling with trouble, his brown hair flared to the side with two small bangs barely kissing his forehead. “Anyway, back to your question which is the reason I’m here in the first place…”

“What question? I don’t remember asking you anything.”

Eyes rolled but the grin stayed in place, “The question you asked yourself, come on I already explained what’s happening here...keep up princess.” Amara’s cheeks flushed and her lips parted to retort but she was cut off, “Can two weeks really change your feelings?” His hand went up to his chin and his fingers drummed on the dark skin in a pensive manner. “I would say yes, people can have fateful encounters that change their life in a two week span...but you know that’s not what happened with you right?”

Amara didn’t answer, her eyes stayed trained on the false figure and waited for them to continue. Before he did he walked towards her stopping when he was directly in front of her feet.

“What happened to you was far less dramatic…” he surprised her when he grabbed onto one of her legs bringing it up. His hand went to the heel of her shoe and pulled. The shoe easily came off and since he was no longer holding her leg it went crashing back down towards the bed. “You didn’t gain anything in the last two weeks...what you think you gained, you already had…” he finished and tipped the shoe over letting grains of sand fall onto the floor.

It was Amara’s turn to roll her eyes, “Yeah, if I conjured you to try and help me with my new problem, we’re not doing a really good job by speaking in riddles.”

He laughed and threw the shoe over his shoulder. Then in a surprising movement brought both of his hands up and out and let himself fall on the bed. His hands landed on either side of her, his head mere inches away from her own, dark orbs looking deeply into her own as if going to the very depths of her soul.

“Think ‘Mara...think past two weeks ago...think a lot further back then that…” the whisper was low and seductive. She tried to control her breath and heartbeat which had both gone out of control, after a few failed attempts she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the hot air that caressed her lips... 

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O 9 Months Ago O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

“AHHHHHH I’m so excited! Aren’t you excited? I can’t believe they actually called us back!”

Amara’s brows furrowed in as one of her hands went up to the ear her best friend was practically screaming into. She let the asian firecracker keep happily ranting but after not getting any input she settled down allowing her to put her hand back down to her side.

“What’s up? You’re not excited?”

“...I don’t know Jubes, do you really think this is a good idea?”

“What? It’s a great idea! Professor Xavier wants us out, so we’ll get out!”

Amara made an exasperated groan, “He did not tell anyone to get out. You’re being over dramatic and impatient!”

“Look. I know he didn’t say it like that but eventually it’s what’s going to happen. We might as well get a head start. The place that called back is really close to school, your job and in the city and it’s CHEAP! Soon we’re going to be over crowded here, we might as well make more space for the morlocks and plus you know there’s something I want to try and put distance between...I mean do we really have anything to lose?”

Amara let her eyes wander around them. The grass was green, the statues were in one piece thanks to the fact that they were no longer training in the garden, and the mansion loomed in the distance with different silhouettes at the windows. Everything was suddenly peaceful and because Professor Xavier disbanded the X-men it seemed it would stay that way.

“...Ok…”

“AHHHHH, seriously? You’ll move out with me?”

“Yes, but only because I’d feel sorry for whoever would end up with you and...maybe just maybe because I don’t want to see you moping about.”

“You’re the best!” Jubilee shouted out and jumped up before throwing herself at her in a big bear hug. “Let’s call the apartment back and when it’s confirmed we’ll announce it at dinner.”

Amara nodded and followed her friend towards the mansion, watching as she pulled her phone out and pushed a few buttons. Soon she started a conversation with the person on the other line but she zoned it out, her thoughts wondering and hoping that this was a good decision.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Amara groaned, her body tossed up into the air as she switched sides on her bed but after a few minutes of laying still she came to a conclusion, she couldn’t sleep. She sat up in her bed and looked over to her sleeping companion, frowning at what she found. Jubilee was sleeping with no care in the world. A few hours ago they had announced they would be moving out, shocking many of their friends who had many questions as to why, questions she avoided to answer and here was the main brain of the operation sound asleep. How could that be?!

She sighed and swung her feet over the bed and a few minutes later she was tiptoeing down the hall. When she reached the stairs her head went from side to side looking down both halls. It’s not like she would be in trouble for being out of bed, they were all young adults now and no longer had to follow a curfew but it seemed like old habits die hard because she couldn’t help but feel like she was doing something she shouldn’t be. She descended the stairs after seeing that the coast was clear and a few twists and turns later she was at her destination.

The refrigerator gave a small hum and the light from it blinded her momentarily. When her eyes got used to it she dipped half her body down to get a better look at the contents inside. Finding what she was looking for, her lips twitched upwards. She grabbed the gallon of milk and her body moved away from the fridge standing straight only to give a small yelp noticing a head watching her from over the fridge door.

She had been so startled by the new sudden appearance that her heart was hammering in her chest and she dropped the milk, she was lucky it had still been closed so it hadn’t spilled but unluckily it had been pretty full and above her toes so she had made another yelp as the cold plastic material touched her.

A small chuckle echoed in her personal space and her eyes moved away from the gallon on the floor to glare at the brown-eyed boy. His lips were curled up in a charming smile and she felt the intensity of her glare soften as he looked down at her.

“I see I’m not the only one having trouble sleeping.”

“No, and I think you just made it worse,” she responded while bending down to pick up the milk.

“Sorry,” he commented though when she stood up straight, milk in hand he did not look very sorry at all.

“How long have you been here? I didn’t hear you come in.”

“That’s because I was already here,” his head tilted behind his shoulder and she took a step back to look behind him to see that there was a plate on the table. 

“Oh…” she murmured realizing that she had walked right past him. “Isn’t it a little too late for a bedtime snack?” she asked closing the fridge door.

“Are you really in the spot to say that to me?” Roberto asked tilting his head sideways, his eyes running down her body making heat flare into her cheeks. It hadn’t been a good day to wear such short shorts.

She cleared her throat and walked past him towards the cabinet where the mugs were, “I just came for milk, looks like you’re getting ready for a feast,” she defended.

“It’s just a bear claw,” he smirked and turned, walking back towards his plate, “Grab me one too,” he added and took a seat at the table.

She grabbed the two mugs, linking her fingers on the handels while still holding the milk in her other hand. A few minutes later she found her fingers ripping a small piece of half the bear claw he had presented to her, nibbling at the sweet glaze before devouring the bread.

“So, what has you up? Bad dream or something?”

Her chocolate orbs left the bread to study him. He had already finished his half so he sat back on the chair comfortably, fingers intertwined together behind his head with a leg on the chair next to him. His hair wasn’t in it’s usual gelled flare, instead the soft brown locks kissed his forehead and the sides of his face. He was looking out a window and the moonlight was showering him very favorably which annoyed her. He already conquered the sun very easily thanks to his powers so why was the moon doing him favors as well?

He noticed that dragged out silence after his question and turned to her, raising an eyebrow in question. Amara quickly looked away from the moonlit boy, turning her gaze back to her sweet bread. After a few more seconds she shook her head, “Nothing woke me up, I’m just having trouble falling asleep and after twisting and turning I decided to come and get some milk. I heard it helps you fall asleep.”

He nodded even though she wasn’t looking at him, “My mom used to tell me that too, she used to give me warm milk though.”

“Oh…” she looked over to her mug and then turned to look at the microwave knowing that it would make a lot of noise if she used it. “I guess I can warm it up on the stove…”

“Ya i guess you could do that...or…”

“Or?” She turned to him to see him looking at her pointedly before turning his gaze to her hands.

“Ohhh…” she answered sheepishly, taking the mug in her hands and concentrating. Seconds later steamed rose from it and smiled contedly.

“Maybe you’re more asleep than you thought,” he teased winning a glare from her.

She then blew on her cup before taking a sip and asked, “How come you’re up? Did YOU have a nightmare?” she threw his words back at him.

Unphased by the comment he shook his head and turned back towards the window, “Nah. I do this a couple nights a week. Sometimes when I absorb too much throughout the day I can’t sleep, too much energy.”

“So you stay up and sit in the kitchen like a creep?”

She tried not to acknowledge the tingle that went down her spin as his chuckle filled the room. “No, sometimes I go to the rec room, sometimes I train in the danger room, and sometimes I chill on the roof. Just depends on my mood, tonight I felt like a snack.” She watched him turn back towards her, his eyes roamed her body again before moving back up and meeting her gaze. 

Amara felt herself flush, she was really not having a good night. She couldn’t sleep and she somehow ended up with the charming playboy of the mansion. She really should have been used to this, Roberto’s was infamous for his flirtatious ways and it seemed even insomnia didn’t cool his charming personality down. She didn’t know how Rahne had put up with it while they had dated.

“No one ever catches you down here?”

“You know we’re not kids anymore right?” he teased, “The adults all know, I’ve bumped into Wolverine plenty of times. It’s not like i’m doing anything bad, I just can’t sleep.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“Every once in a while I bump into one of the others, this is my first time seeing you up this late though. Was it that big announcement you guys made at dinner that’s keeping you up?” Her eyes widened at the fact that he had guessed it on the first try. After a few seconds she nodded. He mimicked the movement, “Don’t worry, I won’t bombard you with questions about why like the others did, if anything I kind of get it.”

“You do?”

He shrugged, “Sure. With all the peace laws being passed and Professor Xavier disbanding us it’s obvious that a lot of us are going to start branching out. I will say I’m a little surprised that you and Jubilee were the first to take action, it’s a big step to move out.” 

“I think that’s why I can't sleep. I’m wrapping my head over the fact that eventually I’m not going to wake up and be surrounded by this, but at the same time I know it’s the right next step. We came here to learn to control our powers, help people understand us, find a way that we could all walk alongside each other without fear and it seems we finally got there. We learned everything we were going to learn here.”

He nodded agreeing with her and they stayed in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before he broke it with, “Things are going to be different here without you guys.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, if you’re taking Jubilee with you it’ll definitely be quieter.” 

She giggled at that before taking another sip of her milk, it had gotten cold again, “Don’t remind me of that, maybe it’ll make me reconsider,” she joked, making him chuckle as well before they went back to a comfortable silence. After a few minutes she considered getting up and heading to bed, it was late and the milk must have helped because she was suddenly feeling a little tired.

“...You know...I still remember the first time I saw you.”

Those words were unexpected and surprised her enough to scare off the sudden sleepiness she had felt. “You do?”

He nodded, “I mean we all pretty much showed up on that same day, but yeah I do. You and Jubilee were sitting on the bench outside in the garden and...” 

“And you did a very flashy summersault.”

He smirked, “and I did a flashy summersault, that worked.”

“Worked at what?”

“Turning you into giggling girls if I remember correctly.”

She smiled and nodded, “Yeah, I remember that too. I think that was caused because you bumped into Jamie making him split right?”

His chuckled filled the room again, “Yeah, that’s why.” his eyes stayed locked on hers for a few seconds before turning back to the window, “Anyway, the point is that I remember the first time I ever saw you here...it’s going to be weird not seeing you around every day.”

“...Yeah. It’s gonna be weird for me too…” she watched him nod but he didn’t turn back to her or add anything else making her add, “But hey, maybe you won’t even notice we’re gone, you guys are going to have a whole lot of new faces around and if anything we’ll probably be around every weekend.”

“True, I'm sure there’s going to be interesting people to talk to with the morlocks coming over. I guess we’ll see how it goes when the time comes.”

She nodded and after another few minutes of just enjoying each other's company he started getting up. “Well I’m going to try and get some sleep now, thanks for keeping me company even after I scared the hell out of you,” he winked and made his way to the door while she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Good Night,” she waved him off and turned back to her mug of milk. It was a little less than half way full so she concentrated on warming it up deciding that once she finished it she would go off to bed as well.

“Hey Amara…” her eyes widened in surprise not realizing that he had still been there. She turned to the doorway to find him watching her, the moon lighting up his eyes in a light that made her heart beat faster than was normal. “I’m going to notice,” he flashed her a smile mumbled a good night and turned down the hall back towards the stairs.

She watched the empty doorway for a few minutes, not sure what to make of those last words or the fact that her heartbeat wasn’t slowing down. She sighed and closed her eyes, her mind going to her first day at the institute remembering sitting on that bench with Jubilee, watching Roberto do that summersault and seeing him turn towards them with a sly smile. 

Her eyes snapped open and she brought her mug of milk to her lips taking a sip. It was cold.

“Damn it.”

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O 3 Months After That O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

“HEY STRANGERS!” Jubilee and Amara looked through the crowd to see a beautiful blonde waving both her hands in the air trying to catch their attention. Amara waved back with the same energy while Jubilee smiled and started making her way to the group.

“Hi,” Jubilee greeted when she reached them. Amara didn’t bother with a verbal greeting going forth and embracing Tabitha Smith, before going and giving small one armed hugs to the three boys behind her.

“There you guys are! We saved you seats for the ceremony but we didn’t see you so we almost thought you weren’t going to show.”

“We got here just as it started because somebody was driving really slow.”

Amara threw a glare over her shoulder at her asiain roommate, “I was driving normally, it’s not my fault that we were running late because you were taking forever to get ready.” She finished with a pointed look before turning back towards Tabitha admiring her dress. “Tabby, this dress looks so good on you!”

Behind her Jubilee’s mouth was opening and closing wanting to come up with a retort but that look her best friend had given her before said it might not be a good idea. A small snicker made her look away from the chattering girls to see steel orbs focused on her, and the thought that no it wasn't a good idea came back ten fold.

“I know you guys have a lot of catching up to do but we’re blocking the door so maybe we should move this party elsewhere before the Groom and Bride make their way to move us themselves and that's a scary thought,” Bobby interrupted the talking girls and grabbed Tabitha by the elbow starting to move her away from where they were.

The other four teens followed the blondes and soon they found themselves in the corner of the ballroom. Three of them stretched out on an elegant couch leaving the other three on throne chairs across from them. A few minutes into the conversation on how beautiful the ceremony had been, waiters started circulating around the guest with champagne and all young adults grabbed at a glass with no hesitation. 

Amara took small sips of her glass, smiling and nodding as Tabitha and Bobby filled them in on what they’ve been up to in the short months they’ve been apart. As Tabitha talked her body easily curved into both boys besides her and through her peripherals Amara watched her best friend down her glass of champagne and start looking for a waiter for another.

Her mouth parted to advise her against it but before any words could be said she felt the hairs on her neck rise to attention, a warm breeze hovering over her ear lobe, the silky smooth whisper moving her attention elsewhere.

“What happened to every weekend? I haven’t seen you since we helped you guys move out.”

Her body twisted around to her other side to give the dark skinned boy all her attention. She gave him a sheepish smile, “I know, I didn’t expect moving to change my life so dramatically that it feels like I don’t have time for anything anymore so...I haven’t had time to stop by. Sorry.”

He shook his head and chuckled, his body close enough to her that the rumbles running through his body swayed her as well. “I get it, working to pay the bills now.”

“You have no idea,” she replied and sighed. “I feel like all I do now is eat, school, eat, work, eat, homework, sleep and repeat. It’s so exhausting. I almost didn’t get the day off today either but I knew there was no way I’d live it down if I didn’t.”

“That sounds exhausting and you’re right I have no idea but here’s to learning,” he moved his glass of champagne to hers letting them clink.

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged, “Taking a page from your guys book and moving on. It’s probably a good thing you did come today or I would have missed you.” Her eyebrows furrowed inwards in a questioning fashion. His lips went into a small smile, “I’m leaving for Brazil.”

“YOU’RE WHAT?”

His eyes widened at the unexpected reaction and after a few seconds she realized how loud she had been and looked around to see that other people had noticed too. The noticeable faces were of course the ones of her friends who were closest to her. Bobby looked super confused, Tabitha started laughing, Ray was smirking while his gaze went from one Brazillian to the other, and Jubilee was watching her questioningly, a half drunk glass of champagne in her hands.

“Where did you get that?” 

“That guy,” Jubilee answered pointing at a waiter who was walking away. “What’s going on?” she asked, perking an eyebrow.

“UH…” Amara looked from Jubilee to Roberto who shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Everyone already knows,” he remarked and moved his body forward so that Jubilee could see him, “I’m going back to Brazil.”

“What? To live!?” He nodded, “Forever?”

“I don’t know, maybe. Guess it just depends on how it goes.”

“When do you leave?”

“In a week.”

“Wow…” Jubilee murmured and slumped back into her chair. She then looked at the others, “Anyone else have a big change they want to announce?”

Bobby smirked and made a comment but whatever was said was lost on Amara, her thoughts still revolving over Roberto’s news. She wasn’t sure why she was so bothered by the new development but the fact that her legs were swaying back and forth told her she was definitely bothered.

“I think I need some air, you want to come?” The dark skinned boy got up from his seat and glanced at her.

She looked up at him surprised but nodded, she then turned to Jubilee who was laughing at something one of the others had said, her hand in the air with her empty glass. “I’ll be back, Jubes.”

Jubilee turned to her and then looked at Roberto, “Alright…” she then turned back to the trio in front of her and realized that she was being left alone with them. Her eyes widened and she quickly turned to tell Amara that she’d go with them but by the time she turned both young adults were lost in a sea of bodies.

“Damn it,” she mumbled to herself and turned when she felt a tug on her hand. The waiter had arrived to replace her empty glass. She thanked him, took a sip and turned to those in front of her, her brown orbs meeting the steel gray and feeling the warmth of the drink spreading throughout her. She really missed Amara now.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Amara had expected that when he said he wanted fresh air they’d be going downstairs towards the entrance of the large building but instead they took a hallway that led them to stairs leading up. When they got to their destination she looked around, “Really the roof?”

He shrugged, “I’ve told you before I like chilling on the roof.”

She nodded, the night he was talking about coming to mind and giving her goosebumps. The last words he had said that time coming to mind and causing her to shiver. He had watched the action and made his way towards her taking off his black blazer as he reached her offering it to her.

“Cold?” She took it from him and draped it over her shoulders not wanting to explain why she had shivered, though yes she did supposed the night was chilly as well. “You know I was expecting you to go all out, maybe even out glamour Tabitha, it being a fancy wedding and all. Thought the Royal Princess side of you was going to come out.”

Amara looked down at herself. Her gown was long, a dark purple color that flared out and lightened in color as it reached the floor. The top was very consevative, small gemstones sparingly spread out on the one strap that held the dress in place.

He laughed at her expression, “You look nice. I just meant I expected you to look like a disco ball like Boom Boom.”

“Jubilee said that we couldn’t look better than the bride, and hey...she looks nice.”

He gave her gown another once over before one shoulder shrugged upwards, “I thought it was a bit much but to each their own,” he responded and walked towards a ledge of the building to look down into the streets.

She followed his action, stopping besides him. After a few minutes of silence she gave into her urge, “So...Rio? 

He nodded, “They say there’s no place like home.”

“What brought that on?”

“A little bit of everything. There’s a lot of changes going on and what you said before really struck a chord. You’re right, we learned everything we were going to learn at the institute at this point and time so the only step to take now is going forward. I reached out to my parents and...dad said maybe I should go back home to start learning the business so I can eventually take it over.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re ok with that?”

“Yeah, I mean there’s really nothing keeping me here now...right?” He turned to face her, his expression loaded with an emotion she couldn’t quite place but made her swallow thickly. Before she had a chance to even try and answer he smiled, “Hey, wanna go get ice cream? You can tell me all about how horrible working and going to school is.”

“Uh, won’t we get in trouble?”

His husky chuckle echoed in the night around her, reminding her of that night in the kitchen when he had reminded her that they weren’t children anymore.

“They won’t notice we’re gone. Come on, I’m buying, you can tell me all about how crappy your everyday lifes been like in the last few months,” after the sentence he walked past her back to the stairs

“I thought you wanted fresh air.”

“I do, and i’ll get it when I have the window down and you drive,” he turned around, continued to walk backwards and winked.

Her lips curled downwards, ignoring the rising heat in her cheeks, “You just made me climb all those stairs just to go back down them?!”

He gave her his most innocent smile, “It’s ok, i’m paying you back in ice cream,” he turned back around disappearing out of the door.

She rolled her eyes, “Stairs aren't easy in these heels you know!” she whined and followed after him.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O 6 Months Later O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Amara looked around at multiple faces, once she found the familiar charming smile she smiled back and made the small trek towards him.

“Hey…” she murmured, reaching him and allowing her arm to halfway go around his back, “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“What was I supposed to do? Have you take a cab and stay at some hotel when you specifically came to see me?”

“It’s two a clock in the morning, I wouldn’t have held it against you. You sound super conceited by the way.”

“You would have held it against me and is it a lie?” he asked with a smirk taking the handle of her suitcase from her.

“Hmph,” was her answer, tilting her head up and away from him. “I happened to be in the area.”

“Oh, well thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to see me, your royal highness,” Roberto reamerked and started making his way out of the airport, her in tow. 

“You’re making me regret coming.”

He laughed and ignored the comment, changing the topic by asking, “How was your visit back home?”

“Good, what I expected to be honest. My father was in hearings most of the time and took advantage that I was around so he made me do a lot of public appearances but it was nice to be there. Just being around so many places I grew up around and home cook meals, it had been a long time and the week ended up going by a lot faster than I thought it would.”

“They say time flies when you’re having fun. I’m surprised he didn’t ask you to stay, try and pass the torch.”

“It’s not time yet, I still have a lot to learn.”

He made a noise acknowledging the statement and stopped walking as they reached his car, “What did you do on the flight?”

“Sleep.”

“The whole time?” he asked after putting her stuff in the back. She nodded and allowed him to open the door on the passenger seat.

“So...are you even sleepy?”

“Nope.”

His smile widened, “Perfect.” She perked a brow as he closed her door.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O 

An hour later Amara found herself sitting on a patio chair on Roberto’s bachelor pad balcony. On the table before her were two plates, only crumbles left over, an empty wine glass and another half filled one. Her eyes weren’t on the silverware though, instead the chocolate gaze was on the broad shoulders of the dark skinned boy who was standing at the rails of the balcony watching the star lit sky.

“I guess you’re alway going to be an insomniac.”

He looked over his shoulder and offered her a wink, “Should you be the one saying that right now?”

Amara ignored the goosebumps on her arms at the sense of deja vu, “I can’t sleep because I took a nap not just because.”

“Sure sure, but you know we meet in these circumstances quite a bit,” he teased.

She gave a soft laugh, “Coincidence. So how have you been fairing here? Ready to go home yet?”

“Hmm…” She wasn’t sure why she felt a sudden dread at his hesitation but found herself readjusting herself to shake it off. “I don’t know, business has been really good. It’s been so different but at the same time cool living on my own. My dad’s happy enough with the business so he leaves me on my own. Parties, soccer, girls....”

“You’re living the life,” she heard herself speak.

“I guess. So how many days total are you staying? You were at your place for a whole week right?”

“Yeah, work gave me twelve days off. I booked the flight so I still have Sunday off before I go back on Monday so you’re stuck with me…” she counted on her hand, “Four full days.” When he stayed quiet she got up and walked over to him, “Why? Is that a problem for your playboy life?”

He grinned and turned to her, “No, i’ll pause my playboy life just for you for the next few days, and actually the reason i’m asking is because I thought of a bunch of stuff we can do while you here, just trying to figure out if we’ll be able to squeeze it all in.”

“Wow, so organized,” she responded in a teasing manner, “What’s on the list?”

“Don’t you think it’ll be better if I tell you as we go? Anyway, the first one will be up in a few hours so get comfortable,” he moved away from the ledge to walk back towards the chairs.

She thought about the sentence and looked back up at the sky, ”Sunrise?” she guessed turning back to see him nod. “What are going to do till then?”

He shrugged, “Talk, drink. Reminisce.”

“Reminisce about what?”

He smirked, “Remember after Logan and Ororo’s wedding, I walked you up to your apartment and…”

“I DON’T WANT TO REMINISCE ABOUT THAT!,” she yelled covering her ears and going red in the face.

He cackled, “Has Ray moved in yet? Everytime I call him he says he’s over there.”

Amara rolled her eyes, “He might as well have! He’s…” Roberto put his elbow on the patio table, resting his chin on his closed hand watching Amara carefully. Her hands and arms would come up every once in a while as she described certain events in which his best friend was driving her crazy, a small smile spreading on his face as he realized that the stars in the background brought out an alluring glow on the Nova Roman Princess.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Present Time O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O 

Amara’s eyes opened. Rays of light had sneaked through the window and bathed her in warmth, reminding her even more of the sunrise they had watched together that day. He hadn’t been lying about having a list of things to do, the following days had them visiting bionic gardens, hiking up mountains, walking through lively streets and sunbathing on the warm beach.

It had been the best time of her life.

She repeated the thought in her head. The realization that that had been the happiest she’d been in a while hitting hard.

“No…” she mumbled to herself sitting up on her bed.

“I think so…” her eyes darted towards her shelf where his figure had reappeared.

“No,” she stated again and stood up letting her bare feet touch the carpet. “No, no, no, no…” she repeated making her way out of the room. ‘Yes, yes, yes…’ echoed behind her.

“I just missed him. I hadn’t seen him for six months. Of course I was going to have a good time.”

“True, but you had just seen your dad and your friends a few days prior and you haven’t seen them for years. Didn’t seem that you reacted quite the same.” He had beaten her to their small living room area, guess that was the cool thing about just being a figment of one’s imagination. You could just appear wherever and whenever.

“That’s because sometimes going home feels like a second job, it doesn’t mean I love him.”

His lips curled upwards and his hands went to the back of his head as he sank deeper into the couch he was sitting on. “That’s funny, I never said the word love.” Her eyes widened and she just stared. 

After a few seconds she mumbled a low curse and walked out of the room. When she came back, phone in hand, she expected to see his smug face but his figure had vanished. She looked over her shoulder, almost expecting him to appear there but when she saw nothing she turned back to her phone and finished tapping on Jubilee’s name.

She needed advice, she needed to let these things swirling in her head out and as nice as it was having her conscience take Roberto’s form to help her out of this confusing turn of events it wasn’t helping much.

‘HEY!! I’m home but I need to talk. Can we meet during your classroom break? I’m heading over anyway so expect me.’ she pressed the send button and then frantically walked around the room looking for sandals and getting ready to leave. After a few seconds her phone vibrated. She frowned as she read, ‘what happened?’ and debated on whether she really wanted to send a huge text message. Deciding that no she did didn’t, she machine gun texted.

‘I THINK I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING AND I DON’T KNOW IF IT’S GOOD’  
‘SOS’  
‘911’  
‘HELP’  
‘See you in a bit”

After sending the last message she grabbed her keys and headed to the door. When she opened the door she froze in place. Roberto was in front of her, after a few seconds she shook her head, “I really need help,” she mumbled and walked forward only to ricochet back once contact was made.

“Whoa,” one of his hands went up and reached for her to help steady her, the other stayed in place holding a black bag. “You alright there Mara?” 

“Roberto?”

He laughed, “You walked right into me? I thought you saw me or am I invisible?” After the question he looked down at himself making sure he wasn’t translucent.

“You’re here…”

He looked up at the low whisper, “I’m here,” he repeated.

She shook her head and pulled her hand away, “You can’t be here.”

His head tilted to the side, “Why not?”

Her gaze went to her watch to look at the time, “It’s a thirteen hour flight with a stop. I just got home an hour ago there's no way you can be here.”

“You really should have let your dad hook you up with that private jet. It only took me 9 hours,” he teased. After a minute of her staring at him as if he had two heads he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, “So, we just gonna stand out here with you staring or are you planning to let me in?”

The words broke her from her bubble and she moved to the side allowing him into the apartment. She closed the door behind him and leaned her weight on the door, watching him as he stared at the pictures on the wall. She watched his gaze linger on the one of their team.

‘What are you doing here?’ she had thought she had only asked the question in her head but when he turned to look at her, she knew her body had betrayed her and she had spoken the words out loud.

He smiled his perfect smile and her heart fluttered, “The weirdest thing happened after I left you at the airport this morning.” He waited for her to ask what it was but she didn’t so he continued, “Do you remember how you felt the day Professor Xavier told us he was disbanding us?”

She took on a confused expression feeling the question was out of the blue but after a few seconds gave a small shrug, “It was a lot of emotions at once. I was happy that all the hard work we put towards the causes helped, relieved that there wasn’t going to be any more fighting but I couldn’t help feeling sad too...There was a feeling of…” she paused trying to find the right word. 

“Loss…” he finished for her and after a moment she nodded. “Anyway, I had a weird feeling after I left the airport, I wasn't sure what it was. I thought I just had to get on with my day so I scheduled a breakfast date…”

“...wow you went back to your regular quick didn’t you?” She mumbled, her eyebrows furrowing inwards feeling somewhat annoyed at the news.

He smirked and winked, “I thought it was going to make me feel better...but it didn’t. I was bored out of my mind thirty minutes in…”

“‘Maybe she just wasn’t your type,” 

“Never really thought I had a type,” he confessed, “I left pretty soon after that and the feeling stayed until I got home and…” he paused making her brow peek up.

“And?” She egged on. The hand that had been holding the black bag outstretched towards her, she eyed it carefully before taking it.

“I saw that.” She looked back to the black bag cautiously before opening it and taking a look. Her clear makeup bag was stuffed in carefully, looking the same as whens she had packed it the night before. 

“I guess I did leave something,” she mumbled to herself.

“Yeah, well anyway...the feeling actually came back soon after but it gave me an idea and... here I am.”

“Here you are…” she repeated, keeping her eyes on the clear case even when she heard him take a few steps towards her. “What was your idea?”

“Nothing groundbreaking, just thought I might know what was causing the feeling, guess I was right cause it’s completely gone now.”

She finally looked up and hated the way her heart fluttered as the dark brown orbs started deep into her own. “What was it?”

He threw her his charming smile and leaned in towards her, his breath warm against her flesh. “I think I realized that that feeling of loss was coming from you leaving...I started missing you before you were even really gone.”

“...Oh…” she whispered as the space between them closed.

His lips were warm, the scent of the beach surrounded her letting her know that this wasn’t some mean trick from her mind. He was in fact here, his hands wrapped around her waist , body pressing her against the door to her apartment. Her eyes opened when she felt the wet appange slide over her bottom lip. His eyes were closed, completely lost in the moment, completely lost in her. She closed her eyes again and her lips started to crack open but before his tongue could taste her they both jumped, a strong vibration shook her body and an electric tone echoed in the quiet space.

“I think that’s you,” she heard his husky voice over her deep breaths. She nodded and swallowed hard when he felt his forehead make contact with hers. Careful to not move their positions she dug into her back pocket taking the phone out and pressing the speaker button.

“Hello?” she answered, closing her eyes again when his nose bumped into hers.

“AMARA! I’m on break, where are you? I thought you’d be here by now? What happened? Where’s the fire?”

“Oh, Jubes...um...never mind false alarm. I thought I left something at Roberto’s but...I just found it…” her lips curled upwards giving him the hint that he could close the gap between them again and he did.

I've still got sand in my shoes  
And I can't shake the thought of you  
I should get on, forget you  
But why would I want to?  
I know we said goodbye  
Anything else would've been confused  
But I wanna see you again

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O End O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

**Author's Note:**

> It’s short and cuddly. Amarto is literally my most innocent ship. We’ll see if I switch that up in the next fic ;) Well hope you guys enjoyed that and the next chapter will be the Jonda one. Don't hold your breath cause who knows when it’s coming but I hope to see you there :) Stay Safe and drop me a line <3
> 
> Sand in My shoes is by Dido.


End file.
